KOCHI: Monsoon art festival, the art and sculpture exhibition which is also the first-ever virtual art exhibition to be conducted in the state, began with around 150 artists from India and abroad participating in it. The exhibition, which will go on for a month, will be broadcast exclusively through a YouTube channel titled ‘Monsoon’. Survival, colours, forms, politics, society and environment are some of the themes being discussed in the show. Changes that the individual and society face due to the Covid-19 situation reflects in the works.
“Galleries and museums around the world are closed, so the artists are looking for new ways to showcase their work,” said K A Francis, former president, Kottayam Art Foundation and former chairman of Kerala Lalithakala Akademi.
The show will be inaugurated by artist and curator Bose Krishnamachari through online interaction. P Gopinath, S G Vasudev, Kanayi Kunhiraman, N N Rimzon, K P Reji, Surendran Nair, Babu Xavier, T K Hareendran, Riyas Komu, Valsaraj K P, Tom Vattakuzhy, Sajitha R Shankar, K Reghunathan and Radha Gomathy are some of the artists who are taking part in the show.
“The exhibition conducted in a gallery is confined to a particular area and the people in the vicinity, but when it is online, it is open to all. In the current scenario, it is impossible to predict when another gallery exhibition will take place,” said T R Udayakumar, former executive member of Kerala Lalita Kala Akademi. Some of the artists also see this get-together as a positive response to the pandemic which has forced them to see the world differently. They promise that the show will be a relief to artists who are worried about the situation.